49er Fire
The 49er Fire was a destructive wildfire in 1988 in Northern California's Nevada County and Yuba County. The fire ignited on September 11 when a man accidentally set brush on fire by burning toilet paper near Highway 49. Driven by severe drought conditions and strong, dry winds, firefighting crews were hard-pressed…
Where it happened
Nevada County, as Wikidata places it.
- Wildfires
The record
- Date
- September 11, 1988
- Ended
- September 13, 1988
- Kind
- Wildfire
- Where
- Nevada County
- Country
- United States
What happened
The 49er Fire was a destructive wildfire in 1988 in Northern California's Nevada County and Yuba County. The fire ignited on September 11 when a man accidentally set brush on fire by burning toilet paper near Highway 49. Driven by severe drought conditions and strong, dry winds, firefighting crews were hard-pressed to stop the fire's advance until winds calmed and humidity levels recovered. The fire burned through 33,700 acres (13,600 hectares) of the Sierra Nevada foothills, impinging on the communities of Lake Wildwood, Rough and Ready, and Smartsville before officials declared it fully contained on September 16.
Sources
Wikidata Q115607065 (CC0); text from Wikipedia, “49er Fire”, CC BY-SA 4.0.